Urban and Rural Planning Analysis, Essay Example

Introduction

The movie As It is in Heaven is a 2004 film created by Kay Pollack and released in 2004 reflects the community that is residing in Sweden. Both the rural and the urban communities were represented accordingly through the settings used in the film. Considering this particular matter, the discussion that shall be presented in this paper shall try to explore the different conditions by which the director used the worth of the settings. Herein the value of presenting urban and rural living in the story to better create meaning and distinction on how the lives of the people differ from each other based on the environment they thrive with shall be given particular attention to.

Establishment Positioning

Establishments such as business buildings and houses have different placing based on the makeup of the land that Is dedicated to the zone definitions of each area. For instance, residential zones are supposed to be dedicated for residences alone while on the other end, the business zones should of course be dedicated to business establishments alone. In this case, the movie presents the differences of zoning in the rural compared to that of the urban areas in Sweden.

During the first scenes in the movie, the settings are shown to have been shot in the city where Daniel, the conductor, was noted to have been working and had his name flourishing in the name of musical creations. He was portrayed to be a very dedicated and successful conductor who recognizes the need to be excellent in his field even if it meant putting his health along the line. In relation to this, his life in the city was then dedicated to music alone. To be able to establish this in the story, the director made use of striking scenarios that represented the places he likely visited. The makeup of the music hall where he presented showed the elitism of his music and that of the orchestra that he was guiding. Perfectionist as his approach was, the movie presented his condition of thinking as rather explicit and extraordinary for a conductor. The people usually surround him after every presentation asking for autograph. This noted that with establishments set as close to each other in the urban areas, people were able to get the latest news about his performances and get there at once to make sure that they meet the infamous conductor of his time. This part specifically portrays the ideal manner by which particular advertisements reach out to the members of the community whereas all are given the chance to know about the latest news and react accordingly to them. This is why it is essential for establishments to be connected within closer vicinities. The connection of the people, the residential areas they live in and the commercial establishments needed to be closely situated as most urban areas thrive under the culture of capitalism. The need to reach the ‘people’ as the thriving market for the commercial establishments is a necessary setup for the sake of fueling the advancement of the area’s economy.

On the other end, the rural planning presented in the film showed a specific difference that sets it apart from that of the urban area. While the urban areas are presented in the film to be more dependent on capitalism, the establishments in the rural areas are more dedicated to providing what the people needed in an abstract approach. For instance, the houses are set apart from each other due to the need for privacy and larger areas dedicated to farms, backyards and other personal concerns that the owners would like to honor. In the city, it is necessary that the aesthetics of the establishments are considered efficiently able to attract the attention of the people. In the rural areas, aesthetic values of the establishments is not so much considered, at times, the maintenance of the establishments in rural areas, like homes, are solely handled by the owners at a lower budget compared to the ones found in the city. This then results to a less attractive neighborhood when it comes to the description of the houses and other business establishments in the area. Observably, the old elementary school bought by Daniel as his homestead in the province was rather dilapidated and is needing a lot of work during the time. Working on the development of the area required a high cost of money and insurmountable effort from those who are to be assigned to work on it. Because of this, working on the school to transform it into becoming a real home was never shown in the film.

The real aesthetic jewel in this particular location is that of the nature that surrounds it. If in the cities, it is necessary to set up lights to serve as an attraction, in the rural areas, the white snow covering the roads alone makes the entire area visually appealing. It has been shown in the movie how such jewel of the environment is specifically appreciated by the residents of the area when Daniel and Lena [a choir singer] were roaming around the province. Visiting interesting places, the movie was able to show how the people were specifically blessed to have such a wide location for residency. Even though they may have less business sectors in the market that could give them the material things that the city-residents enjoy, it could be noted that they enjoy the place as much because of what the environment offers them.

Cultural Differences

The placing of the establishments and the distances they have between each other also entail to create a particular culture for the people residing within the area. For instance, in the city, although people are closely living with each other in apartment buildings and in closely situated homes, people are most often than not less acquainted. Having more things to do and a lot of matters to occupy their time, people in the city are often busy with their own chores and their own concerns. In this case, it is hard for the people to actually know each other deeply especially in connection with the specific stories that they have in their lives. Although there are thin walls that separate them from each other, they seem to have invisible limitations that could get them separated from each other. Daniel, although he was famous in the city, not so many people were able to get close to him apart from that of his personal manager. Not even the driver of his limousine was shown to have a close relationship with him as if showing that amidst his popularity, he was seemingly alone and did not have anyone special to share his fame and fortune with apart from his manager.

On the other end, it might be expected that the situated distance of the houses and other establishments in the rural areas would set the people apart. The irony however is that the larger the distance between the homes were, the closer the people became. The members of the choir were living separately from each other. They had their own homes, had their own issues and had some personal concerns that governed their being. It could be observed that somehow, the level of privacy is given particular attention to in relation to the setup of the said houses. This could be noted on the part of the movie where Daniel saw his ‘childhood bully’ hurting his wife where he came to the rescue and instead of being able to help; he was the one who accepted the blows of anger of the said bully. Closing his doors imposes that he wanted privacy and as much as possible he wants such privacy to remain. However, this cannot be contained as much as desired in the rural areas where everyone know everyone and each person knows the story of the other. Being involved in each others’ lives makes it possible for residents in rural areas to establish closer relationships compared to those living in the cities where ‘minding one’s own business’ is a common culture recognized to be an important foundation of the society. In the rural areas, minding one’s own business remains to be a principle that is not fully followed accordingly. Sharing one church and having smaller choices of business establishments to buy from, people in the rural areas have no choice but to be interrelated to each other as they share stories while accomplishing their daily tasks.

Conclusion

Based from the assumption and analysis of the differences of both the urban and rural planning in the movie As it is in Heaven, it could be understood that social setup creates a great impact in the process of establishing culture for the people. While the cities are swarming with people, it is most often than not that these people do not know each other amidst living closely with each other in apartment buildings. While on the other hand, people in the rural areas are more closely related to each other due to the makeup of their community having lesser choices of areas to go to and establishments to appreciate, this people settle for what they have. Exchanging information is then a common matter in such a scenario making it easier for the people to establish connections between each other.

Considering the presentation of the difference of the rural from the urban areas in the movie plays a great role in identifying the personality of the main characters especially that of Daniel as the turn of events occur in the plot of the story. Notably, people are accustomed to the environment that they are living in and in relation to this, the shaping of their values and behavior also take place, which is obviously defined through the movie.

References:

As It is in Heaven. (2004). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382330/. (Retrieved on April 22, 2013).

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Chipuer, H. M., & Pretty, G. M. H. (1999). A review of the Sense of Community Index: Current uses, factor structure, reliability, and further development. Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 643-658.

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